Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Little Side Project

I tackled a little "side" project this weekend--something totally unrelated to the bathroom.

Since I've been working with the black paint on the vanity and because my brush and roller were already loaded with black, I decided to dive into this project!

I took the door down leading into the garage.

The weather stripping on the bottom of the door was SHOT! It was breaking off and not a very effective weather-tight seal.

Also....

This was the condition of the weather strip on the side of the door--literally in shreds. It's been this way for years. The man that owned this house before us had cats, and they clawed the weather stripping around the door. If you were standing inside with this door closed at night you could see light peeping in around the door if the garage light was on. Where there's light around a door, there's energy loss! For sure. This was a long overdue project to tackle!

Replacing the weather stripping was a little overwhelming. I've looked at it before at Lowes, and there's a million different types of weather proofing for doors/windows. "How do I know what to buy??" I asked myself.

The weather strips around the door required a crowbar and hammer to remove. The strips have to be pried out of grooves that are around the door specifically for weather proofing (imagine that!) It wasn't hard at all once I got it started. The weather strip at the bottom of the door just had to be unscrewed. I went to Lowes and just bought the exact same stuff.

The strips around the door just snap right back into the grooves, and you can cut the strips to size with scissors! Easy. The strip on the bottom of the door was a lot more tricky. One thing I've learned is to keep the old piece for reference. It's important to know which edge of the strip goes on the inside and which goes on the outside of the door. The edges are different. The directions on the strip said to "place the drip fin on the outside of the door," but it didn't indicated which edge was the drip fin! Genius!

And it would save lots of time to keep the old strip and use it to mark where your screw holes should be on the new strip. I didn't do this, and it took me a long time to measure where all the holes went. And then, of course, I was off a tad on some of my measurements so I had to redo some things. UGGGGGGHHH!

Good news is that I'll know what to to and what not to do next time. In fact, the weather stripping needs to be replaced around our back door out to the deck. It should be a breeze!

Anyway, so the door went from this....

to this....

I like it! It's like the door put on a little black dress and got all fancy! This little corner of the garage looks complete and finished now! I'll also be putting some vinyl lettering on the door that says "Welcome."

Here's the disappointing part. When I removed the painters tape from around the door this morning, this happened...

Crud! Now what?? It's like being all dressed up and feeling good only to realize you have toilet paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe!

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About Me

Hey! I'm Leigh. I'm a southern girl through and through. My hubby, Kevin, and I live in upstate SC. We have an eight year old daughter, Olivia, and our son, Davis, is four. They are featured here A LOT! So is our dog, Bailey (or "B" as we often call him.)
Sincerely, Leigh is a place to share...well...life. I hope you find something interesting, funny or just plain crazy here. All in all, this is a place to recap and share all the moments that make a lifetime.